Friday 23 October 2026 6:16 am | Updated: Friday 23 October 2026 3:43 pm

Toast the City winners unveiled at glitzy Steel Yard ceremony

Attendees at the Toast the City Awards event, looking towards a stage under red lighting and brick arches. — The Toast the City Awards took place last night in the Square Mile

Last night City AM’s Toast the City Awards celebrated the people and places that make the Square Mile the destination we all love.

More than 300 chefs, restaurateurs and people who run the Square Mile’s cultural venues and green spaces gathered at The Steel Yard for the second annual Toast the City Awards to find out who would win one of our coveted Slice of Toast trophies.

In an awards show presented by City AM’s wonderful wine columnist Libby Brodie and British chef and TV presenter Matt Tebbutt, the winners of Best Restaurant, Best Bar, Best Breakfast, Best Roof Terrace and Most Fun Experience were celebrated in front of hundreds of cheering City workers.

Best Coffee, Best Art or Culture Experience, Best Sandwich, Best Casual Dining, Best Overnight Experience, New Opening of the Year, Best Green Space, Best Boozer and Retailer of the Year were also unveiled at the ceremony.

City AM partnered on Toast the City with the five Business Improvement Districts covering the City: Eastern City, Cheapside, Aldgate Connect, Fleet Street Quarter and Culture Mile.

Guests mingling under a red-lit brick archway at the City AM Toast the City Awards 2026 event. — The Toast the City Awards were hosted at The Steel Yard venue in the Square Mile

Drinks were provided by Don Papa, All Good Things and Shepherd Neame.

Head judge Steve Dinneen, City AM’s Life&Style editor said: “Even having worked here for 17 years, there are still places that I have only discovered thanks to these awards – places like the Hypha Gallery, Basils Sandwiches and the magnificent staircase at St Barts North Wing.

“It is this diversity that makes the Square Mile my favourite place in the world. I feel privileged every day to be able to write about the businesses brought to life by the hard work of the people in this room.”